French-managed Eurocopter contract would be Albania’s largest military expenditure in recent years.
TIRANA, Feb. 1 – Albania’s parliament is discussing a purchase of 78 million euros for five military helicopters produced by Eurocopter, a French-managed European group, the government said this week.
The projected direct procurement purchase is expected to cost 10 to 20 percent of the country’s total defense budget for the next four years and would be the largest expenditure made by Albanian Armed Forces in recent years.
Albania’s government said in a statement that modernizing the armed forces was a priority, and these helicopters will give Albania a competitive position. It urged parliament to approve the budgetary expense.
The contract, which is likely to be approved in parliament, provides for payment in installments by the Albanian government that will extend until 2013.
The new helicopters would be Cougar AS532, a military version of the SuperPuma helicopter family.
The government says they would be used to transport troops in combat, search and rescue operations, medical transport as well as moving state VIPs.
The government says the large purchase is within its spending plans, as military budget has increased, totaling 2 percent of Albania’s total gross production.
The country’s Ministry of Defense had a considerable increase in its funds in 2007, when the government decided to meet the NATO standard to spend 2 percent of the Gross Domestic Product for national defense.
NATO had asked for a gradual increase, but Albania’s government decided to go to 2 percent right-away and since then, the Ministry of Defense has been saving for large purchases like military helicopters.
Albania’s current aging helicopter fleet is made up of mostly helicopters produced in the 1960s and 1970s. And they have limited technical and operational capacity, officials said. Albania also has a fleet of 12 transport helicopters donated by Germany in 2004. They have dual use for civil and military purposes.
The new five Cougar AS 532 AL helicopters are the latest version of the SuperPuma helicopter, a brand with old roots in France.
They can hold 20 troops and weight of 4.5 tons. The ability to quickly fly 249 miles per hour and has a range of 530 kilometers. They are used by armies of many countries of the world.
The total procedure of bringing the new helicopters to Albania will cost 13.2 billion leks. In 2010 alone, 3 billion leks will be due, a figure that is equal to 15 percent of the general fund of 18 billion lek available to the Ministry of Defense.
The purchase has its roots in 2007, when Eurocopter sent senior officials to Albania in 2007.
Albania’s NATO membership and its EU membership aspiration are anchored in the country’s decision on where to buy modern equipment for its armed forces, experts say. Spending the money in EU member France, for example, could be helpful to Albania’s European integration.
Two years ago, Albania also signed a contract with the Dutch for the purchase of four patrol boats for the Albanian Coast Guard for a cost of about 16 million euros.
